Holidays cause anxiety for everyone. If you’re living with bipolar disorder, the challenges are very real. Learn 3 practical tips for beating the holiday blues.
Hello, my name is Gabe Howard with bipolar Magazine and the bphope.com on-line vlogging community. Today, we are going to talk about three ways to beat the holiday blues with bipolar disorder.
First, I’m going to approach this from having lots of friends and family around. For me, friends and family, while I love them, cause me the most amount of stress, especially around the holiday season, when I see the friends and family I am not so used to seeing the rest of the year.
Educate Friends and Family about Bipolar Disorder Ahead of Time
So, step 1 – When you travel, engage your friends and family. And by travel, I mean when people travel to you, as well. You need to let them know ahead of time, when everything is well, that social situations can cause you anxiety. They can make you act a little off, they can cause you depression. Let them know ahead of time that this may happen. That way, when it does, they don’t think it is them, and so they don’t attack you. Remember, there is nothing worse than having Aunt Linda chase you down and ask you why you are being antisocial. Tell her ahead of time, and then when she does it, you will have allies in the room who are like, “Hey, Aunt Linda, calm yourself.”
Step 2 – Before you get overwhelmed, when everything is fine, figure out where you are going to go. Find that back bedroom that the kids are in, the rec room in the basement, or, hey, even outside behind the woodshed. Just figure out a place that, when you become overwhelmed, you are going to go and chill. Bring yourself a paperback, bring your tablet computer, bring your phone. That way when you are becoming overwhelmed, you can just walk yourself right out there and chill out.
Find the Person You’re Most Comfortable Around when Bipolar Causes Issues
Number 3 – Find a buddy there that likes to hang out. Go someplace. Get in the car, drive to a local restaurant and get yourself something to drink. There is no way to do the holidays wrong. Remember – if you are spending time with any member of your friends and family, you get points for that.
Listen, don’t let pursuing perfection ruin the holiday season. There’s no wrong way to have a holiday season. Just enjoy yourself and sit back and relax.
Share your Experiences with Bipolar Disorder with Us!
All right, everybody, there are way more than three ways to get through the holidays with your friends and family and beat the holiday blues. Using the comments section below, give us those methods. There are no wrong answers. If it worked for you, it could work for somebody else. My name is Gabe Howard with bipolar Magazine and the bphope.com on-line vlogging community, and we will see you next month. Thanks!
Gabe Howard is a professional speaker, writer, and advocate who lives with bipolar and anxiety disorders. He is an award winning blogger and the creator of the official bipolar T-shirt. (Get yours now!) Interested in working with Gabe or learning more? He can be reached on Facebook, or on his website, www.GabeHoward.com.
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